Every day, the most extraordinary people dedicate their lives with the most incredible amounts of compassion, time, energy, and dedication to care for a loved one in need. Some call them care partners, but I call them heroes.
Care partners are a valuable part of our Movement Disorder Care & Support Ecosystem© and this summer we were proud to partner with Kyowa Kirin Pharmaceuticals on a four-part mini-series designed specifically to support them. The Art and Practice of Planning: A Class Series to Set You Up for Reduced Stress took care partners on a guided journey with an array of experts as we explored planning for the future.
Before the program launched, Kyowa Kirin conducted a survey that gave us great insight into just how much (and how little) our community was spending on planning. They found that:
33% of people don’t put much thought into planning for the future
39% don’t set goals or expectations
Our program uncovered that only 16% had their documents in order, 74% had only some done, and the rest did not know where to start or what status their paperwork was in or had not started.
The message was clear: planning just wasn’t happening. The main intention behind the course was to encourage care partners to take the time now to think about what their or their loved one’s needs might be in the future to help reduce stress, give them more control and help guide them in challenging times. The program covered four specific topics, including:
- Planning for the future
- Asking for help
- Keeping up with treatments
- Preparing for medical appointments
“Discussions were enhanced with the perspectives of numerous guest speakers including an elder law attorney, social worker, movement disorder neurologists, and an aging life care specialist. They took us on a journey of the ways to begin making plans as they covered WHY you should plan, WHAT you should plan, HOW to plan and WHERE to go for information and included supplemental materials for reference.
The result of the series? A colorful trail of optimism, brilliant futures with plans and goals, plus a toolkit to help you on your to reducing stress through making plans.
The feedback we received from the series was as inspiring as the programs themselves.
“Thank you for a wonderful, informative, thought-provoking discussion!!! This was Great!”-Debra Tomaselli
“Allowing someone to help is accepting a gift from them which allows them to feel good” – LaDonna
Care partners and adult children do so much and with the most amazing depth of understanding, loyalty, and support. Your resilience, confidence, and commitment are inspiring, and we honor you.
We hope this resource helps provide clarity and, in some ways, a lightened load. If you missed the series live, it’s not too late to watch the recordings and download our toolkit of supplemental materials.
